Seeing Through Different Eyes Relaunched
by Rowanoak23
Summary: Relaunch/Restart of my previous story. El-ahrairah decides to teach the Warrior cats a lesson about respecting rabbits and poor Jayfeather and Fiver end up paying the price...
1. Chapter 1

SEEING THROUGH DIFFERENT EYES (Relaunched)

The grass swayed as a long limbed cat raced through the endless greens of the forest. His quarry, a juicy, succulent rabbit lay but a fox-tail ahead of him. The rabbit was fast, but he was faster. With a triumphant yowl the WindClan cat bore down on his prey and with one swipe, killed it. The black tom panted as he came to a stop.

"Well done Tallstar!" He heard a she-cat mew. The former leader of WindClan turned to see Bluestar dip her head at him in respect for his kill. "That rabbit was fast."

"I'm WindClan. We're faster." Tallstar purred. "Besides, the hunting grounds of StarClan would be awfully boring if the prey just walked into our mouths."

"That's true." Bluestar allowed as she walked out of the undergrowth. At Tallstar's nod she leaned over to take a bite of his freshkill.

"Alas poor Hufsa, I knew him well." A voice rang out from nowhere. Tallstar strained his head, looking to see who it was.

Bluestar narrowed her eyes as she raised her head. "I know that voice…" she growled, her ears flattening. "Come on out trickster!"

"Trickster? Me?" The voice called out again with a laugh. "Come now Bluestar, without me your banal lives would be even more boring than one of your precious Gatherings."

"Why don't you return to your own realm?" Tallstar meowed, his voice firm. "This is the place for the ancestors of honorable warrior cats to rest and watch over our descendants. You do not belong here."

"If you wish to go sight seeing, might I suggest the Place of No Stars?" Bluestar mewed shortly. "I'm sure Tigerstar would love some company in the Dark Forest…and I'm sure you would enjoy spending your time in a realm of punishment."

"What makes you think I'm not in such a place already Pfeffa-Rah?" The voice querired evenly, still hiding out of view. "After all, this place is hardly paradise for my kind, is it?" Tallstar and Bluestar exchanged a look. It was hard to imagine one being's heaven as another's hell, but there was some truth in the remark.

Bluestar sighed with exasperation. "Enough games oh Prince with a Thousand Enemies. Just come out and say what you want and leave us in peace."

"As you wish, Out of the tall grass a pair of long ears arose, followed shortly by the rabbit they were attached to. But this was no ordinary rabbit. This one's eyes were full of intelligence and cunning, in addition to being able to speak to cats.

Much as the cats of StarClan did, this rabbit smelled not like prey but carried the scent of ice and fire and the wild places of the night. He was El-ahrairah, Prince with a Thousand Enemies, lord of all rabbits, and trickster extraordinare. To these titles Bluestar would've added "royal pain in the hindquarters."

"Can we help you?" Tallstar asked, endeavoring to be polite though his tone was frosty. This was not the first time El-ahrairah had entered the hunting grounds of StarClan and none of his previous visits had been pleasant.

"I certainly hope you can help me more than you did Hufsa over there." The rabbit prince gestured towards the unlucky bunny Tallstar had taken down. "Of course, it's not like he didn't have it coming." El-ahrairah leaned back on his large feet.

Bluestar stepped forward. "If you have come to complain about our kind feasting on yours, save it. Cats have eaten rabbits for moons beyond reckoning. Complaining to us will not make it stop nor would we ever even attempt to do so."

"I am quite aware of how nature works." El-ahrairah gestured broadly with his two forelegs. "Nor would I dream of depriving my children the chance to outrun and outsmart yours." He grinned making Bluestar wish not for the first time that she could take this pretentious rabbit by the scruff and shake the smug out of him. "However, I am concerned with the lack of respect your descendants are showing mine."

Tallstar swished his tail. "Our warriors always give thanks for the lives they take in order to feed their Clan." He pointed out.

"Perhaps, but your kind still thinks of mine as silly, irreverent, stupid creatures. _That_ will not do!" El-ahrairah wiggled his nose. "I think your Clans need a lesson in respect. After all, there is much to be learned from me and mine…not all the answers lie in the stars you know."

The cheek of this rabbit! Bluestar had to bite down her retort. "I think our descendants can take care of themselves without your _generous_ offer." She mewed, unable to help stressing the sarcasm on 'generous.' "The Clans respect all life…even one as frivolous as you." She shot the rabbit a dark look. "They are in need of no lessons on respect, certainly not from _you_!"

El-ahrairah shrugged, Bluestar's annoyance rolling off him like water from a duck. "As you wish…after all what can I do if the all-knowing StarClan decides not to heed me?" Mischief twinkled in his eyes as he bowed to Bluestar and Tallstar. "As always, it's been a pleasure." Then he turned and hopped away, out of their hunting grounds. But in his mind he was already thinking of a plan.

Those cats think they're so smart, do they? Well, they'd so learn that there's more than one way to skin a cat—or rather, change their skins…


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter One**

Greenleaf had come early this year and the Clans were flushed with freshkill. After many moons of coldness and hunger, the first moon of Greenleaf was always a time for celebration. Jayfeather was assaulted by the rich aroma of a full freshkill pile before he even stepped out of his den.

Mice, shrews, voles, a blackbird and even a rabbit lay piled in the middle of the camp. Jayfeather had to fight the urge to drool at all that freshkill. But his herb supply was low and it was best to restock it now instead of later, when all the prey in the forest would be looking for things to munch on.

Walking to the WindClan border, Jayfeather decided to start gathering the herbs farthest from the camp and pick up more as he made his way back. His whiskers twitched as he heard other cats in the trees. Tilting his head he reached out to sense who was there: He sensed Greystripe, hungry as ever, out leading a patrol. Berrynose was with him, full of himself as always; bragging about how he would bring back the most prey while Cinderheart did her best to ignore him.

Jayfeather pushed on ahead. He could smell the WindClan border markings and beyond them, the smell of the hills and rabbits. There was a clump of burdock roots not far from the border. He was just about to dig up the root when a shift in the wind caused the smells and sounds from WindClan territory to waft over the border. Jayfeather turned, the wind catching him in the face. He smelled WindClan cats, three of them. He raised his head and sniffed, searching for scent and stretching out with his other senses.

"_Tornear. Ashfoot. Breezepelt_." He picked them out, one by one. And they were in pursuit of rabbits. Several of them.

Jayfeather couldn't see the chase, but he could hear the scratch of claws against the dirt as they ran after their prey. He could feel the wind brushing the grass down and the yowls of the cats as they gave chase. He reached out and felt the intensity in the minds of the WindClan warriors with his own mind—and he felt something else. It was an almost tangible feeling. He sensed a mind and power not unlike his own. Jayfeather's sightless eyes widened. He had never known anyone like him before.

Frowning, he tried to focus on what he had felt. At first he thought it was one of the cats...but he soon found that it was one of the rabbits.

"_I never tried using my powers on anyone but cats before._" Jayfeather realized. "_I wonder what a rabbit's like..._"

Jayfeather's every muscle stiffened as his mind brushed against the thoughts and memories of the rabbit that attracted his attention. He was unprepared for the depth he found...it was like falling into the lake, only he couldn't feel the bottom. The medicine cat felt his mind fall in, deeper...and deeper...until—

"Watch out!" Jayfeather whipped his head around to see-"_wait, __**see? **__How can I_?"-Breezepelt bearing down on him, claws extended and looking much, much bigger than he normally was.

"What are you doing?" Jayfeather hollered at Breezepelt, jumping to the side. The WindClan warrior didn't seem to hear him.

"**Move you runt or I'll slap your ears off**!" Jayfeather turned just in time to see a large rabbit bowl into Breezebelt's flank, sending the WindClan warrior rolling over. Then the rabbit turned back to him. "Well?" He demanded sharply before cuffing Jayfeather's head. "Get a move on!"

Gasping in shock, Jayfeather was too stunned to do anything but follow—in a lopping, hopping pace? Jayfeather ran ahead, moving much faster than he'd ever gone before...and he couldn't help but notice he was much closer to the ground than usual...

"Great StarClan!" He moaned. "I'm a rabbit!"

"Hurry up!" The big bossy one snapped. "Or you'll be a dead rabbit!" Running up a hill, Jayfeather followed the big one down a burrow. The WindClan cats had given up pursuit already.

They were greeted by another rabbit, who looked at them worriedly. "Did you lose them?"

"Yeah," the big one panted. "We gave them the old slip."

"Little brother?" The other rabbit asked. "Are you alright?" Jayfeather looked confused...until he realized that the rabbit was talking to _him._

"Huh? Oh, r-right, I'm fine." Jayfeather stammered. "Fine."

"Do you want to rest?" The brown eyes of his rabbit 'brother' filled with worry. "Why don't you go below and have a good night's sleep. It must've been a close call out there...you even smell like cat!"

Jayfeather bobbed his head, then regretted it when a long ear flopped down over his face. "Right...sure...see you in the morning." He lopped his way down a burrow shaft.

Nodding after him, his 'brother' called out, "Good night Fiver."


	3. Chapter 3

Fiver sat up with a start. One moment a pfeffa had been bearing down upon him and the next—Fiver blinked and rubbed at his eyes. Nothing happened. All was dark. It was if he were living in eternal Inle. But he didn't feel dead. In fact, he didn't even feel like himself!

"Great Frith." Fiver breathed in what was more than half a prayer. He could feel the grass brushing against his feet, but not his belly. His legs were longer. Fiver couldn't feel the weight and comfort of his ears; his hearing seemed diminished. And his tail…

Even though it made no difference Fiver closed his eyes. "I just need to stay calm. I need to find Hazel and the others. Things will be alright so long as—"

"Jayfeather?" A voice called out. Fiver froze. He smelled elil. Another pfeffa. "Are you over there?"

He stayed quiet, hoping the cat would pass him by. No such luck. The she-cat padded over to him and Fiver felt her tail brushing over his back. "Are you okay Jayfeather?" He shivered as he felt her breath hot in his ear.

"I—I—" Fiver choked out, trying not to panic. Why wasn't this cat attacking him? Why was she calling him Jayfeather? Then he realized that the cat wasn't speaking lapine or hedgerow. But he understood every word. That's when it hit him. _Great Frith_, he thought, _I'm a __**cat**__! __**A blind cat**__!_

"Oh Frith!" He murmured in prayer. Leafpool looked at him then pressed her tail against his forehead, then put her nose near her ear. Her apprentice didn't feel hot but he was shaking like a leaf and fearscent was everywhere.

"Jayfeather," Leafpool meowed. "Come back to camp with me. I think you need to lay down for a bit." Jayfeather paused and then gave a brief nod. Leafpool's concern grew when Jayfeather's head turned this way and that, as if he didn't know where the camp was. Curious, she brushed her tail against his head. "Here, grab my tail."

To her surprise, he did: gently biting down on her tail. Normally Jayfeather would have bristled indignantly at the thought of needing assistance to walk around. But he didn't meow so much as a word.

There was a bit of a commotion in the ThunderClan camp as Leafpool led Jayfeather in, her tail in his mouth. Fear scent washed over everyone in Jayfeather's vicinity as the poor rabbit-turned-cat, whirled this way and that; terrified at the overwhelming scent of cat and not being able to see a thing.

"What happened to Jayfeather?" Sorreltail asked in concern as other cats mewed their own questions. "Is he alright?" "Was he attacked?"

Jayfeather's siblings Hollyleaf and Lionblaze pushed their way through the crowd of cats to where Jayfeather sat cowering behind Leafpool. "Jayfeather, what's wrong?" Hollyleaf pressed her cheek against his head.

"Looks like he's had quite the scare." Brambleclaw said, frowning. Squirrelflight hurried over, rubbing her face against the top of Jayfeather's head. An act that, had he been acting normally, would've embarrassed and annoyed him greatly. But all 'Jayfeather' did was shiver, looking startled when Squirrelflight started tending to him.

"It's like he's really blind-" Hollyleaf meowed to no one in particular. "Like he really can't figure out where anything or anyone is."

Lionblaze gently laid his tail on Jayfeather's back. "Jayfeather? You okay? It's me, Lionblaze." Jayfeather just shook his head from side to side, sighing.

Leafpool's whiskers twitched. "I know what you mean." She looked at her apprentice worriedly. "He doesn't seem to recognize or remember anything..."

"How can that be?" Cinderpelt asked, her head tilted. "His head isn't hurt and he doesn't look like he's in shock..." she sniffed. "Doesn't smell like he ate anything weird either."

Nodding quickly, hoping no one would wonder just how Cinderpelt knew all this, Leafpool quickly said. "I wouldn't worry too much. Hopefully a little rest and a few herbs and Jayfeather will be back and clawing our ears off."

A few purrs of amusement rang out in the camp.

"I hope Leafpool can help him."

"I just hope she can get rid of that smell." Dustpelt wrinkled his nose. "He smells like rabbit."

Fiver—albeit in mind and not in body—grunted as he bumped into the wall of the ThunderClan medicine den. Being suddenly blind was not something one adjusted to easily. By the way his body...felt, he knew that he was no longer himself. Besides, he smelled of cat.

And now he was surrounded by elil, by cats. Fiver's heart pumped as he willed himself to relax. "_Great Frith, what happened to me? I'm a cat...a blind cat. How did this happen?"_ Fiver closed his eyes, a somewhat superfluous gesture, as he thought back. As he and the others were being chased he felt a...presence in and around his mind. It wasn't quite like he felt before he 'sensed' the imminent destruction of Sandleford warren, but definitely out of the ordinary.

It was a presence in his mind...like his own. Only in a cat. And speaking of which...

"Jayfeather?" Fiver repressed a sigh. If someone called him that again... "Are you feeling better?" Fiver turned around at the source of the sound. It was the she-cat that had found 'him' right after the—transformation or whatever it was. What was her name?

"Um, yes um..." Fiver was a little surprised that his 'cat-voice' sounded a lot like his normal one. He tried to remember her name, and failed.

She sighed. "It's Leafpool...can't you remember?" Her voice radiated concern. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"…I don't know." Fiver lashed his tail...not consciously doing so, as he never HAD a tail he could lash before. It was the most honest thing he could say, since it was true. "I guess I'm not feeling like myself." He mentally winced at himself for saying that.

Gently, Leafpool pressed her tail against his forehead. "I'm not feeling a fever...perhaps you should just rest for a while?"

"I suppose so." Fiver agreed, turning away from her. His head thudded against the side of the den. "Oof!"

As Leafpool rushed over to help him to his nest, Fiver wondered if there would be any reprieve from the endless Inle he found himself in…and for that matter, would he ever truly be a child of El-ahrairah again?

Then something else occurred to him. If he was in this cat's body…then where was the cat?


	4. Chapter 4

In a cramped burrow the real Jayfeather—so to speak—sat haunched over and brooded. Even in a rabbit's body, he found it uncomfortable and unnatural to sleep so far underground in so tiny a burrow. He forced himself to sleep, in the hopes that Yellowfang or Spottedleaf or Rock or SOMEONE would come to him and explain what in StarClan's name was going on. But he had no such luck. The only dreams Jayfeather had were of running across the heather as rabbit, looking behind him only to see his Breezepelt and all the Clan cats—including his own Clanmates—bearing down on him; claws outstretched and teeth ready to tear him to pieces.

After a fitful night's rest in a burrow, Jayfeather found himself craving for some space. However, not knowing his way around the warren led to some irritating turnabouts and aimless wandering.

After about five minutes of this he started getting frustrated and started to go faster in the hope of getting out quicker. Not looking where he was going (which is something that was never a concern of his before) Jayfeather bounded into a pair of rabbits hopping down the tunnel. One was lanky and had a golden-yellow fur color the other was shorter and gray. Jayfeather collided head first with the gray one as the other hopped aside.

"Urf!" The gray rabbit grunted as he shook his head. "Grrr…Fiver, can't you watch where your going?" He turned to grouse to his companion. "Honestly Dandelion…stupid mystic, can see the future but can't see where he's going!"

'Dandelion' chuckled to himself. "Don't get your tail in a twist Hawkbit. So what is it Fiver?" He asked the cat-turned-rabbit. "Got another vision or are you just heading out for some _silflay_?"

"Um…no." Jayfeather shook his head. "Just…wanted to get out for a bit. Er, after you?" He added to Hawkbit.

Hawkbit harrumphed and started on ahead. Dandelion looked at Jayfeather for a moment before following Hawkbit. Jayfeather followed them both up and out of the warren.

_Visions_? Jayfeather cocked his head to one side, then regretted it when he nearly tred on one of his own ears. That rabbit said that he—that _Fiver_—had visions. Was he some sort of medicine rabbit? Where did these visions come from? Did rabbits have the spirits of their own ancestors watching over them? _Ridiculous_. _Still_…Jayfeather shook his head. He had bigger things to worry about. For starters, how to get his own body back?

Finally finding his way outside, Jayfeather looked around. He found himself on top of a high lonely hill, at the roots of an old beech tree. The other rabbits of the warren were also out, nibbling on the grass. He strained his ears to pick out the snippets of conversations going on around him. He heard the two rabbits he just met, Hawkbit and Dandelion, arguing about who had brought back the best _flayrah_—StarClan knows what _that_ is—back from the farm. Jayfeather turned to see his 'brother' talking with the big rabbit with the odd headfur who shouted at him when he first became a rabbit. Next to them was another rabbit with black tipped ears.

Jayfeather focused, trying to use his powers. He was pleased to find that he still had them, after a fashion. He focused on the first one. Images and thoughts filled his mind. _Leading a group of rabbits across a field. Saddling up next to another rabbit when they stumbled. Pursued across a stream by a dog. A stubborn refusal to leave anyone behind. Responsibility. Concern. Determination. Leadership. Finally a name: Hazel._ He was their leader. Jayfeather shook his head, impressed at the sheer depth of his character.

He turned to the big one next. _On_ _patrol, safeguarding his warren. Shouting orders, urging others onward. Standing up to another rabbit, even bigger. Powerful, but cruel. Fighting other rabbits. Strong. Tough. Stubborn. Then a name, Thylali. Bigwig._ He was apparently some sort of deputy to Hazel; but with a stubborn, quarrelsome streak. He reminded Jayfeather of Dustpelt's relationship to Firestar. Respect, but with differences.

Finally the ThunderClan cat turned his attention to the third one, with black-tipped ears. _Floating rabbits across a wide stream on a piece of bark. A deeper understanding than the others. Loyal. Clever. Intelligent. Blackberry._

Jayfeather must've been caught staring for Hazel turned his head and twitched his ears in worry. "What is it, Fiver?" Hazel asked. "Another vision?"

_This Fiver must apparently have a lot of visions_, Jayfeather mused as he thought of a response. Blackberry tipped his head. "Anything to do with Efrafa?" The name conjured up a flood of images from all three rabbits. _A rabbit warren, large. Full of despair and terror. Rabbits being pushed, bullied around. Finally a giant rabbit, dark furred with one-eye; radiating power and cruelty. General Woundwort._

Jayfeather shook his head, both to dislodge the image and to answer their questions. "No. It's nothing." From the way they thought of this Woundwort he might have been Tigerstar reborn as a rabbit.

Bigwig snorted. "Well then, since nothing else has come up you can join the Owsla on patrol." Hazel looked at him in askance.

"Another patrol Bigwig? You just went on patrol yesterday and nearly got caught by the Efrafan owsla." Jayfeather mentally filed the word _owsla_ away. Maybe it was their word for a patrol. But what would a rabbit patrol? Did they have territory? Rivals? But what would rabbits fight over? There was grass enough everywhere, unlike prey.

Jayfeather listened on. "Ahh, we gave them the slip easily enough." Bigwig said breezily.

Hazel twitched an ear. "Yes, by nearly getting caught by those cats! I told you we should steer clear of those cat scents!"

Bigwig looked cross. "Well it worked didn't it? The Efrafans were too afraid to follow us. And besides, remember the owsla saying? He who dares, wins."

Hazel returned his gaze evenly. "There is a difference between taking necessary risks and being foolhardy."

"We need to know what Woundwort's Owsla are up to!" Bigwig snapped. "He isn't going to stop hunting for us Hazel!"

Blackberry gave a nod, looking apologetic to Hazel. "General Woundwort can't tolerate having a free warren near Efrafa. It encourages the rabbits under him to try to escape and, in his mind at least, any warren not controlled by him risks of getting the attention of man."

_Man?_ Jayfeather focused on the odd word. A mental image filled his mind as he probed their minds. _Twolegs! Man must be what they call Twolegs. Weird name though._

Closing his eyes, Hazel sighed. "I know." He said, in a tone that made it seem like he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. "All right Bigwig. Take a patrol out."

Nodding gruffly, Bigwig said. "I'm not a captain of owsla for nothing Hazel. We'll be careful." He turned to Jayfeather. "Sure you're up for it?" Jayfeather nodded back. Perhaps patrolling with these rabbits would provide him with some more clues about what was going on—and perhaps how to get out of this body.


	5. Chapter 5

Fiver awoke to darkness. It was quite frightening, and took him a moment to recall that he was in the body of a blind cat. He shook his new head and started to sniff. The cat—Leafpool—was on the other side of the den. Fiver could recognize her scent. With all the traffic in and out of the medicine cat den, he had grown adroit at separating out the various cat scents.

He stretched, amazed at the languidness and grace of a cat's body. Turning around, he sniffed the air. Someone was coming. Behind, he heard Leafpool turn around and mew out a greeting. "Sandstorm, good morning!"

Fiver took a moment to recall who she was. Sandstorm was the mother of Jayfeather's mother, Squirrelflight. He heard something drop to the ground before she replied. "Morning Leafpool, Jayfeather. Feeling any better?" She asked.

Sighing and sitting down, Fiver didn't bother answering. What could he say? _Sorry, I'm actually a rabbit trapped in the body of your friend?_ Then he scented something else. Mouse.

"Are you hungry?" Sandstorm purred, laying her tail across his back. "I brought you something to eat." He felt her nose the mouse in front of him. Fiver recoiled from the scent of dead mouse, his fur bristling with something close to horror. Eat the flesh of a living creature? Or at formerly living creature, as the case may be? Even as he rejected the thought out of paw a sinking feeling crept into his head. _What if this body won't be satisfied with grass and flayrah? What I need to behave like a cat while I'm in the body of one?_ Fiver felt nauseous.

Sandstorm looked concerned when 'Jayfeather' didn't eat the mouse she'd brought. She exchanged a quick glance with Leafpool who shook her head. The medicine cat had no explanation for Jayfeather's odd behavior either. "Maybe you'd like to pick something from the freshkill pile yourself?" Sandstorm suggested. "There are a few shrews and voles, a pair of blackbirds and even a rabbit—"

Fiver's sightless eyes snapped wide open as he whirled around and nearly knocked Sandstorm off her paws as he dashed out of the den. He felt the sun on his face as he blindly stumbled towards the scent of rabbit coming from the middle of the camp. Cat scents were all around it. "Oh Frith, no!"

Hardly even noticing that he was bumping into or knocking aside other cats, he went straight for the scent of rabbit. It came from a pile of scents: mice, voles, shrews, birds…all dead. Lionblaze, one of the cats he had bumped aside, turn to see his brother running for the freshkill pile. "Jayfeather? What's wrong?" He called, but got no answer.

Panting as he stood over the pile, Fiver's head darted this way and that, trying to pick out the rabbit from the pile. Just then, Dustpelt leaned in and picked up the dead rabbit in his teeth. He turned around to carry it off when Fiver yowled at him. "Stop! Don't you touch him!"

Dustpelt turned, to see Jayfeather bristling at him, his claws unsheathed. He dropped the rabbit at his paws. "Jayfeather, what are you—URG!" Dustpelt grunted as Jayfeather's claws raked his side. He backed up, surprised at being attacked. The other cats gaped in astonishment as Jayfeather stalked around the fallen rabbit, sniffing it.

Fiver closed his eyes, breathing in the rabbit's scent. _Please, please, oh please Frith…don't let it be Hazel or any of the others!_ The scent was unfamiliar. It didn't smell like any of the rabbits from Watership Down, nor even from Efrafa or Cowslip's Warren of the Shining Wire. Just some poor, unlucky rabbit—probably a _hlessil_—who was brought down by these cats. Even though he didn't know him, Fiver felt the need to give him the traditional rabbit prayer. "My heart has joined The Thousand," he breathed aloud. "My friend stopped running today."

Dustpelt hissed at Jayfeather, ready to shred him for a couple of mousetails. Fiver could practically feel Dustpelt's anger. This cat seemed unnaturally adept at 'feeling' the thoughts and feelings of those around him. Brambleclaw padded in between them. "Jayfeather, what are you doing?" His voice was calm but carried undertones of worry and frustration. "Why did you attack Dustpelt? He would've shared if you had asked him-"

That was it. Fiver picked the rabbit up with 'his' teeth, grimacing as he did so, and ran. Brambles and thistles scratched him as he ran to the barrier, occasionally clipping his side against the wall. As soon as he felt the open wind on his fur, he knew he was out of the camp. Fiver heard the yowls of cats behind him from the camp, calling for him to come back. Hastily, he hid the body in the undergrowth before turning around. No sooner had he completed his task than he scented Leafpool approaching.

"Jayfeather, what in the name of StarClan are you doing?" She demanded in bewilderment. "You attacked a clan warrior, stole freshkill from the mouths of your clanmates…what is going on?"

Panting in fear and excitement, Fiver held his head up. If he was going to die blind, in the body of another animal, then he could at least die with his name on his tongue. "I am not Jayfeather." He felt Leafpool practically recoil in shock and surprise. "I am _Hrairoo_, Fiver of Watership Down. I am a child of El-ahrairah, a rabbit in this cat's body." He closed his eyes. "You can kill me now if you want."

"Jayfeather…" Leafpool breathed. She didn't know what to say. What to think. What to feel. Had he gone mad? Could this possibly be true? She couldn't see how. Perhaps it was some strange new illness, a Twoleg poison—something!

Leafpool slowly walked up and licked his ear, then pressed her nose into his flank. "C'mon Jayfeather." She mewed softly. "I'll talk to the others. Just come back to the medicine den and rest. We'll talk about this later."

Fiver, fully expecting her to have killed him, seemed to collapse in on him self and let her guide him back, his flank practically resting on hers.

The ThunderClan medicine cat shooed away all oncomers from her and Jayfeather. She insisted that they back away and give them some space. Ferncloud was busy licking Dustpelt's wounds as the grumpy warrior hissed and glowered balefully at the medicine cats. Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight looked at her with worry in their eyes. Hollyleaf sat down, her friend Cinderpelt pushing her nose into her flank as Lionblaze pawed the ground with his claws.

They all wanted her to say something, anything to explain Jayfeather's behavior and offer some solution for it. Unfortunately, she didn't have any.

As soon as she had Jayfeather curled up back in his nest, she gave him a poppy seed to calm him down before walking out to find Firestar. She didn't have to go far. He and Brambleclaw were waiting just outside the medicine cat den.

"Well?" He mewed simply. "Do you have any idea why Jayfeather's been behaving the way he has?"

"I'm afraid not." She sighed, her ears flattening. "There isn't anything physically wrong with him, at least, nothing that I can tell."

Brambleclaw's whiskers twitched. "So, there's nothing you can do?" His concern was transparent, though his mew was even and tempered. "What should I tell Squirrelflight?"

Leafpool took a deep breath. "I was thinking of taking Jayfeather to the Moonpool tonight." She meowed slowly. "I think sharing dream with StarClan will help me understand what is going on…and possibly our warrior ancestors may be able to help Jayfeather himself."

Firestar nodded. "Do what you think is best. I trust your judgment. With StarClan's help this will hopefully be resolved soon."

Nodding solemnly Leafpool wanted to believe him. But somehow, she couldn't quite make herself do it.


End file.
